1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical terminal for short circuiting terminals mounted in a connector housing, the short circuit connection depending on the mating condition of the connector with a complementary connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Connectors with short circuit terminals are disclosed for example in DE 29 03 896, U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,311, EP 367 173, EP 389 779 and WO 93/07662. In all of these documents, a short circuit terminal is mounted in a cavity of a connector housing, adjacent a row of terminals mounted in further cavities of the housing. The short circuit terminals have base portions provided with locking lances for secure retention of the short circuit terminal in the connector housing. Extending from the base portion in cantilever fashion, are spring arms having contact protrusions proximate free ends for resiliently biasing against some of the connector terminals. The free ends or springs arms are tapered for receiving a shunt release cam of a complementary connector, for breaking the short circuit connection when the connectors are coupled. A common application for such short circuit terminals is found in the automotive industry, in particular safety restraint systems whereby shorting circuiting of terminals when connectors are unmated reduces the risk of inadvertent ignition of an airbag or seat belt pretensioner.
A particularly safe and reliable connector is thus desirable. One of the disadvantages of prior art short circuit terminals, is that they are relatively voluminous, or do not provide a sufficiently reliable, high contact force against the terminals to be short circuited, or they render secondary locking of terminals of the connector difficult. For example, a short circuit terminal disclosed in WO/9307662 is fairly long and consumes a large amount of sheet metal for the production thereof. In EP 367 173, the short circuit terminal also consumes a lot of sheet metal and because the terminal has opposed contact arms, it is difficult to implement this design in connectors with varying geometries and rows of terminals. The short circuit terminal disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,311 is fairly complex, requires a lot of space and also requires large material usage due to the long developed length.